City - Susquehanna State Park State - MD Country - United States
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A great blue heron taking off. I think he was tired of getting his picture taken. A question, does it look like the bird is a bit over exposed????? I tried to use some expossure compensation here but, I dont think I got it right. Can anyone help????????
Ray, thank you for taking the time to critique my photo. What you said, was just what I needed, an open, honest critique of my work. Please feel free to go through my portfolio and give me any other critiques on my work that you feel would help me improve my photography. Thats why I joined UF, to grow as a photographer and I cant do that if someone doesnt tell how to improve my photography. I love photography, I find it both, rewarding and challenging, I have a strong desire to become a better photographer but, I cant do it without people like you who will show me what I am doing wrong, so that I can improve. Thanks again, hope to hear from you soon, Jim Gamble
this image is possibly a little overexposed, though I feel the problem has more to do with the quality of the light, being bright and sunnny the light is high in contrast and creates specular highlights
this image is a good attempt under the circumstances, but realise it is not a 'great' image, the challenge for you is, if your inclined to pursue this genre, to analyse why this is not a 'great' image and change the variables next time so as to create a better image; softer light/different time of day
closer viewpoint
more dramatic perspective eg head on may be more interesting than rear view
composition to avoid bright highlights on the water as these will always draw attention from the subject
a faster lens to allow shutter speeds that will freeze action and avoid camera shake
a less forgiving film, consider why you use a particular type of film and do its inherent characteristics outweigh it's difficulty of use
metering technique, not necessarily spot metering, any meter reading is just a start point, you must analyse what the reading actually means then adjust it to create the exposure that you decide is appropriate
exposure compensation, this is a means to vary the exposure that the camera thinks is important, but you must consider is the start point of this calculation going to achieve what you decide is important
hope this helps Jim, it is easy to look at an image after it has been made and say what could be improved, but this critiquing helps the thought processes next time
good photography is not easy, and very often good photography is achieved by knowing when not to shoot
Great capture of this guy stretched out with legs poised behind him for flight! Maybe a little overexposed, but a very difficult call above water and a moving object. This came out very well under these circumstances, much better than I usually do. Very well done.
Maybe a slight overexposure, Jim, but there's still some detail there. A tough shot to make those adjustments, "on the fly"! Otherwise great shot of the heron. Dave.
Jim I almost always use spot metering on wildlife. that way regardless of the background, foreground, your subject is exposed correctly. Sometimes it backfires but the majority of my shots are what i want